(Reuters) - U.S. Commerce department bureaus informed staffers in recent weeks that Chinese artificial intelligence model DeepSeek is banned on their government devices, according to a message seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the matter.

"To help keep Department of Commerce information systems safe, access to the new Chinese based AI DeepSeek is broadly prohibited on all GFE," said one mass email to staffers about their government-furnished equipment.

"Do not download, view, access any applications, desktop apps or websites related to DeepSeek."

The Commerce department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters could not immediately determine the extent of the ban throughout the U.S. government.

DeepSeek's low-cost AI models sparked a major selloff in global equity markets in January, as investors worried about the threat to the United States' lead in AI.

U.S. officials and members of Congress have expressed concerns about the threat of DeepSeek to data privacy and sensitive government information.

Congressmen Josh Gottheimer and Darin LaHood, members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in February introduced legislation to ban DeepSeek on government devices. Earlier this month, they sent letters to U.S. governors urging them to ban the Chinese AI app on government-issued equipment.

"By using DeepSeek, users are unknowingly sharing highly sensitive, proprietary information with the CCP - such as contracts, documents, and financial records," the lawmakers wrote in a March 3 letter, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. "In the wrong hands, this data is an enormous asset to the CCP, a known foreign adversary."

Numerous states have banned the model from government devices, including Virginia, Texas and New York, and a coalition of 21 state attorneys general has urged Congress to pass legislation.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington; Editing by Jamie Freed)